1. Field
The invention relates to gathering radio channel data and its use.
2. Description of the Related Art
Communication between a DUT (Device Under Test) and a base station of a radio system can be tested using an OTA (Over-The-Air) test, where a real DUT, such a mobile terminal, is surrounded by a plurality of antennas coupled with an emulator in a chamber which has as low echoes as possible. The emulator may be coupled to or act as a base station and emulate propagation paths between the mobile terminal and the base station according to a channel model by generating independent Rayleigh faded signals, for example. OTA antennas transmit pre-processed communication signals to the DUT on the basis of weights determined by the emulated radio channel.
There is an interest to measure mobile terminals in live networks, i.e. in existing installed networks in specific environments. Terminal vendors would like to measure and “de-bug” their products in an OTA chamber having emulated environments as realistic as possible. Operators, in turn, would like to measure and “de-bug” problematic areas of their installed networks in an OTA chamber.
However, the emulated radio channels of the OTA chamber do not correspond well enough to the real radio channels. Hence, there is a need for better radio channel data.